WHAT'S N EXT FOR NEWT?

摘要

Newt gingrich is down but— at least in his hyperenergetic mind—nowhere near out. "We are going to contest everyplace, and we are going to win, and we will be... the nominee in August," he said in Orlando, just a few hours after losing to Mitt Romney by 14 points in the Florida primary. Defiance at this grim juncture is standard procedure for ideological also-rans. February will likely be a winless wasteland for Gingrich, with a half-dozen uphill contests and only one debate to regain some altitude. His bank account is nearly drained, while Romney and his allies have ample cash to flood the airwaves, just as they did in Florida. And the pro-Romney party establishment will step up its public and private efforts to declare the battle over. Gingrich is well aware that he has been a pathetic candidate of late, squandering his time and energy complaining about Rom-ney's attacks, neglecting to present a substantive agenda, plummeting to self-pitying depths and trying to make an issue out of minuscule aspects of Romney's record.